Game Thread: Wisconsin vs. Arizona

[HuskerOC]

Hell, the more I think about it, the more I think these two teams will be preseason #1 and #2 next year. I can't for the life of me think of two better teams that return anything near as much.

Well, Gordon is gone from Arizona. Possible lottery guy.

Nick Johnson is draftable, but his position won't change if he stays at Arizona for next year or not. His size and limitations will be the same. Unless he shows he can shoot like Stephen Curry, it ain't going to change much. May as well go now when your stock is high.

Don't see anybody leaving early for Wisconsin. Maybe Kaminsky, but he is a defensive liability in the NBA and is a weak rebounder. He is a spot up 6'11" 3 point shooter with narrow shoulders and not much length who can't post or defend in the post in the NBA.

 

[Stymietee]

I just ran the entire west bracket perfectly!!.......Thank you Wisconsin!!!!!

 

[Red_Chaos]

[MEDIA=twitter]450106899132715009[/MEDIA]/photo/1

sorry reminds me of when i was in high school and a teammate got a technical because she was to close to the line and wouldn't back up



(p.s still won that game tho)

 

[Great Dayne]

This was a spectacular game with a myriad of great plays and defensive intensity. Frank's individual effort will go down in the chronicles of one of the best in UW history. Unfortunately, the game was near infallible with exception to the indelible flaw of the officiating being extremely inconsistent and time consuming. I can't say either team was favored but the refs attempted to be a hindrance for the duration of the game. Bo is a class act and deserves it more than any other coach currently. Since he finally decided to let loose of the offensive reins as I had been suggesting now he makes it further than ever. Congrats to AZ on a wonderful season but somebody has to lose and it's difficult to see the player not even attempt a shot at the buzzer.

 

[Jim Rome is Flaming]

Nice class.

This guy isn't actually a Wisconsin fan.

 

[dcZONAfan]

I'm crushed. But what a fucking season boys. Too bad Aaron and Nick are leaving, next year would be epic with them both around. As long as RHJ and Zeus stay we will compete for the FF again next year.

Congrats on the win Badgers fans, couldn't be happier for a coach like Bo even after a loss like this.

 

[CatsTopPac]

Shit, can't say too much about that game. Hat's off to Wisky. I don't know what the game would have been like with Ashley, but I would have loved to find out. I tried to downplay the importance of losing BA since he got hurt, but man, it would have been a great matchup for him tonight. Oh well. Still proud of what we accomplished without him. Wisky made tough shots against the best defense we could throw at them. So I'd be a fucking idiot to take anything away from them. I was beside myself during all those hooks (I actually questioned myself that a hook was a foul, just because it was so blatant and never called). But in the end, it's all nitpicking. I think we might have sacrificed some offense for defense this year, to the point where they guys needed to see the ball go in the basket before they felt comfortable shooting. That's a dangerous philosophy in deep March.

Really liking next year, and congrats again to UW. This is why I love March, even if it's at the expense of my own team. Great season, especially losing Ashley. Already looking toward next year. Bear Down

 

[GumbySquad]

Post-Game press conferences:

Time taken for Sean Miller to congratulate Wisconsin and give praise and respect to their team for a hard fought game: 4 seconds
Time taken for Bo Ryan to give props to Arizona for the hard fought game: Infinite.

He never even mentioned Arizona during the 10 minutes he had a mic in front of him... and yet he is supposed to be super classy and some think that Sean Miller is not? Really?

Tournament Pressers | NCAA.com

 

[Monte Carlo Wildcat]

Aaron Gordon's quote is the reason I've stayed sane tonight:

"Losing a game is not a tragedy. There's real tragedies all over the world."

I swear, I was about to run down to Uni and join the riot but when I read this quote, it just hit me like a ton of bricks. Great year Arizona! Wildcats for life!!!

 

[GumbySquad]

Aaron Gordon's quote is the reason I've stayed sane tonight:

"Losing a game is not a tragedy. There's real tragedies all over the world."

I swear, I was about to run down to Uni and join the riot but when I read this quote, it just hit me like a ton of bricks. Great year Arizona! Wildcats for life!!!

Yeah, that dude is more of a man at 19 than 75% of the people who cover sports. He gets it. He never bought into the hype over the "Freshmen Focus". He never bought into the nonsense about him being compared to Blake Griffin. All he has ever done, since the day he stepped onto campus is be humble and be himself.

You have to admire a young man who has that kind of perspective in life. He impresses me even more for his character than he does on the basketball court... where he is a freak.

 

[Monte Carlo Wildcat]

Yeah, that dude is more of a man at 19 than 75% of the people who cover sports. He gets it. He never bought into the hype over the "Freshmen Focus". He never bought into the nonsense about him being compared to Blake Griffin. All he has ever done, since the day he stepped onto campus is be humble and be himself.

You have to admire a young man who has that kind of perspective in life. He impresses me even more for his character than he does on the basketball court... where he is a freak.

Couldn't freakin agree more GS. AG is mature beyond his years and i have nothing but the upmost respect for him. He not only exceeded expectations, he showed the entire world what a class act he and this program are all about. Not once did I hear him complain about anything or act selfish, which is especially impressive considering his hype coming into this year. Thank you AG for your one year of service; you exemplified what it means to be a UofA Wildcat!

 

[LogicMan]

Gordon is moving up the draft list for sure...........

 

[Great Dayne]

Shit, can't say too much about that game. Hat's off to Wisky. I don't know what the game would have been like with Ashley, but I would have loved to find out. I tried to downplay the importance of losing BA since he got hurt, but man, it would have been a great matchup for him tonight. Oh well. Still proud of what we accomplished without him. Wisky made tough shots against the best defense we could throw at them. So I'd be a fucking idiot to take anything away from them. I was beside myself during all those hooks (I actually questioned myself that a hook was a foul, just because it was so blatant and never called). But in the end, it's all nitpicking. I think we might have sacrificed some offense for defense this year, to the point where they guys needed to see the ball go in the basket before they felt comfortable shooting. That's a dangerous philosophy in deep March.

Really liking next year, and congrats again to UW. This is why I love March, even if it's at the expense of my own team. Great season, especially losing Ashley. Already looking toward next year. Bear Down

The game went precisely as I expected with your defense locking down every player with the exception of Big Frank. It's a shame the game had to end with brutal call that could have went either way and the ref should have held the whistle. However, AZ still had multiple opportunities to win in the end so the refs shouldn't be the scapegoat, just terribly inconsistent.

Good luck next year and I hope you can find a PG replacement.

 

[FORKWDEVIL]

AG just needs to hit his shots from the FT line and I will predict he will be in the All Star game (starter) someday. It is amazing to see 3 B10 teams still in. I do not like that.
Great season Arizona.

 

[CatsTopPac]

The game went precisely as I expected with your defense locking down every player with the exception of Big Frank. It's a shame the game had to end with brutal call that could have went either way and the ref should have held the whistle. However, AZ still had multiple opportunities to win in the end so the refs shouldn't be the scapegoat, just terribly inconsistent.

Good luck next year and I hope you can find a PG replacement.

Out of everything I wrote, definitely don't focus on the reffing. I'm definitely not one to blame anything on the ref. It's just that that kid got away with a hook once, and it was no big deal. Then he did it again and got away with it, and he realized that it wasn't getting called. Then he just kept doing it. I just thought I was missing something because the refs missed it, and neither announcer said anything, and nobody brought it up at half. Hahahaha, really made me question myself.

Like I wrote, in a one point loss, anything can be picked apart to change the L into a W. I try to focus on any large systemic problems with the season. I really saw how much Ashley might have helped. Not saying we would have definitely won with him, but he is quick enough to get out to the perimeter, and has a 7'4" wingspan down low. And again like I wrote, the guys saying that they needed to see the ball go in the basket to get confidence is a recipe for disaster in March. It's because Miller is so defensively minded, that they sacrificed their offensive game. Holding a team to 39% shooting and 64 points in OT is great, unless you only shoot 39% also, and only score 63. Take nothing away from UW defense, but I felt like our defense was better. UW had to make much more difficult shots to score, but they actually made the tough shots. Very impressive. I feel like AZ had higher % shots and better looks than UW, but shit, we just didn't feel comfortable shooting the ball. And really, this has been a problem for much of the season. So it's these macro problems, regardless of the opponent that have been some pretty glaring weaknesses all season. We were looking for the defense to cover them up. And it worked. But once you get into the second weekend in March, the competition and coaching is solid enough to exploit that. And that's exactly what UW and Ryan did. So again, nothing but respect for them. It seemed like that was our best defensive game of the year. Almost every shot was challenged, and UW had to work for everything. It seemed like every basket I thought, "Well, that was just a great shot over great defense, can't do anything about it." But then AZ would go down the floor, and get a slightly better look than what we were giving UW, and miss the shot. I'm not saying that our shots were wide open, because UW played good defense. It was just infuriating to see UW make shots over ridiculous defense, and AZ couldn't make shots with just a bit more daylight. Like I said, UW just impressed the hell out of me. And Miller needs to get his guys to know what it looks like to see the ball go through the hoop, before gametime. Great game though.